Ending a 6 month Tenancy Agreement early as a tennant

bert054

Hi,

I have a 6 month tenancy agreement which I am 3 months into. We have decided to move back to my partners parents to save for a deposit on a mortgage. I was planning on speaking to the landlord and paying what was owed on the agreement to end it. But on have a re-read of the agreement I came across this
"17. The agreement will run for months. this may be extended subject to agreed rent reviews. Should the tenant wish to leave he/she must give the landlord one months notice in writing, due on the date of the rent and the date vacating the property. During all notice periods rent must be paid as normal. Should the landlord wish the tenant to leave the property he must give the tenant 2 months notice due on the date of the rent."

I interpreted this as I could leave at any point in the agreement as long as I served 30 days notice in writing. Which I put in to motion. But my LL says it means I must give 30 days notice on the end of the 5th month of the agreement so I can leave at the end of the agreement. I dont believe that the above clause states that clearly at all.

I told him that if this is the case then I will honour my contract with out causing him hassle but could he put the house back up for let and find a new tenant, to which he agreed but the cost will come out of my deposit. I did not argue.

So I am hoping someone will be able to clarify who is in the right?


Any help will be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Bert054

G_M

No. The clause relates to "this may be extended ". ie after the initial 6 months.

You have a 6 months contract and the LL can expect/demand rent for that period.
To end it early, you need his agreement. The usuall arrangement is for he tenant to pay the LL's related expenses: marketing for a new tenant; rent till that tenant takes over etc.

Offer this and hope the LL agrees.

Blackpool_Saver

Your contract is for a minimum of 6 months, after that you can walk away, to be polite you can give notice but you don't have to. After that you have to give one months notice from the anniversary date on which the tenancy commenced. The landlord has to give two. Do you have your deposit in a protected scheme, that money is to pay for damage over and above wear and tear or missing things as stated/photographed in the inventory, I hope you have one. The landlord cannot use your deposit to pay for him to find a new tenant.

Edited to add, the above relates to leaving at the end of the 6 months contract of course

Werdnal

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

The landlord cannot use your deposit to pay for him to find a new tenant.

Not quite correct - if LL agrees to let T leave early, they are permitted to ask for compensation for the loss of rent and re-marketing costs from T. T will obviously have to agree the deduction from the deposit to cover these costs, but LL can demand T pays, so taking out of deposit is the same thing really ... T is paying, regardless of where the actual money comes from!

If LL finds a new T, they cannot charge OP rent once the new T moves in, but can charge rent from OP until then, up until the 6 month fixed term expires.

jjlandlord

On the face of it that clause could indeed be interpreted as granting the tenant the possibility to end the agreement on a month notice, but it's poorly drafted so it's unclear...

OP could try his luck and serve the notice now as prescribed in the clause. The landlord might accept it, if not then OP can follow advice from previous posts.

Blackpool_Saver

Werdnal wrote: »

Not quite correct - if LL agrees to let T leave early, they are permitted to ask for compensation for the loss of rent and re-marketing costs from T. T will obviously have to agree the deduction from the deposit to cover these costs, but LL can demand T pays, so taking out of deposit is the same thing really ... T is paying, regardless of where the actual money comes from!

If LL finds a new T, they cannot charge OP rent once the new T moves in, but can charge rent from OP until then, up until the 6 month fixed term expires.

Hi Werdnal, that's why I edited it to add that my advice relates to after the 6 months contract expires, I think we may have cross posted

DVardysShadow

jjlandlord wrote: »

On the face of it that clause could indeed be interpreted as granting the tenant the possibility to end the agreement on a month notice, but it's poorly drafted so it's unclear...

It looks to me like the number of months should have been inserted

17. The agreement will run for <Insert Number Here> months. this may be extended subject to agreed rent reviews.

DVardysShadow

bert054 wrote: »

I have a 6 month tenancy agreement which I am 3 months into. We have decided to move back to my partners parents to save for a deposit on a mortgage. I was planning on speaking to the landlord and paying what was owed on the agreement to end it.

The minimum decent amount of notice you could give is 1 month,if the Landlord would accept. So you would only have 2 months left to do. It is not worth the effort.

About the only sensible possibility is to offer the Landlord that you will allow viewings for prospective tenants who require an early move in date and that you could move out at short notice if he wishes to avoid a void.

jjlandlord

DVardysShadow wrote: »

It looks to me like the number of months should have been inserted

Agreed. The unclear part I had in mind was about the details of T's notices.

bert054

Hi, thank you for all your quick responses. They have helped very much. The situation now stands at this;
I have moved out. The house is in a better condition then when I took it on. I have told the landlord that he can show tenants round at his leisure. I will be paying for the advertising costs and rent untill a new tenant is found.
Ive got a solicitor to look at the agreement just so im sure, just waiting for him to get back to me.
All due to me misinterpating the agreement. I have looked at other agreements and they use much clearer wording to state what my LL is saying to me.

But it is a very nice house in a very nice area so i dont think it will be long before there is a new tenant in.

Again thank you all

jjlandlord

bert054 wrote: »

All due to me misinterpating the agreement. I have looked at other agreements and they use much clearer wording to state what my LL is saying to me.

It does not matter what other agreements say, what matter is what yours says.
IMHO your interpretation is perfectly reasonable as the clause does not say when you can serve notice (meaning you can serve anytime). Certainly I don't see any restriction saying that it can only be after the initial 6 months.
But obviously as with all such issues it would be for a court to settle any dispute, which may not be worth the risk and aggravation.